Tuesday, August 30, 2011

When I manage to pull the above off with a Card Trooper and 2 Waboku, I'm able to slowly mill my way to victory by getting Wulfs special summoned for Celestia to clear the field. I won that game on DS without using Judgement Dragon.

I've been playing WC 2011 a lot hoping to get my digital copy of the Agent Structure deck: Lost Sanctuary but have been unlucky so far. I intend to stop playing after I build it and wait for Tag Force 6. I'm currently battling Kiryu repeatedly for his Infernity cards. The matching game after every match adds to the frustration as well.

I prefer the DS story line but the PSP has the advantage of loading save games and so I intend to get one save data with all cards unlock to save time. I just want to use it to try out decks anyway. I intend to focus playing mainly on the DS and PSP and hence, a new title for this blog: The Digital Duelist!

Monday, August 29, 2011

I think it all started with Synchro Monsters. In the beginning, Dark Dive Bomber was such a powerful card that can end games and it was a level 7. Everybody had to make one and it was soon banned. Soon after, Brionic was the most sought-after and it is a level 6. Before I stop playing, it was Trishula, a level 9 and it is an absolutely overpowered card. Now, in the XYZ era, I think the magical number this time is 3 because of this card.

It brings back removed from play monsters with their effects unnegated. This combos with Cards for Black Feathers, Cards from the Sky, Gold Sarcophagus, Allure of Darkness, Master Hyperion, Gate of the Dark World, Dark Armed Dragon, Black Rose Dragon (yes it has a second effect), Spore, Plaguespreader Zombie, Mezuki and these are some of the cards I can think of. Particularly in zombies, the TeamPurplePanda build even forgoes Burial from the Different Dimension and I think it is because of it, unless the card was forgotten...

Personally, I think this is the single reason Tour Guide of the Underworld is good. It's probably the number one choice Rank 3 XYZ summon. It has been tested to work well in Dark World by the people in Pojo in TCG before the Structure deck was released but I think the TCG ruling about XYZ material monsters does play a small part in making it even better. It is also fits very well in Agents (check out my previous post), Lightsworns and Zombies. However, in OCG, there are no Tour Guides and also a different ruling about the XYZ materials but I think Leviair is still too good to pass up. There definitely will be ways to summon it but it will be slower compared to Tour Guide who brings it out instantly.

Lightlords have probably the closest instant summon with Lumina and Arkus and a banished Honest is a very good target to bring back. Other ways to summon Leviair are from my guesses after looking at this Dark World deck list by Banebu that came in third. I think he uses Spirit Reaper to stall until a second 3 Star summon like Broww, Sangan or the Fabled Raven and Tragoedia (using their effect). In his side-deck, there is also Snowman Eater which is a 3 Star wall.

In short, I think OCG decks should still try to have some setup to summon Leviair even without Tour Guides for rewarding plays. Beware of leaving your 3 Star monster out for a turn as it might get Mind Controlled...

Side-note: The 2011 Collector Tins are out and they contain Pot of Duality. Those interested in building a TCG Agent deck will want the Zenmeister tin as it also contains Kristya.

Revision to OCG Tier 1 prediction

- Agent Angels

- Lightlords

Cards that I'm consider important:

- 1 BLS

- 1 Sangan

- 2 Effect Veiler (or Skill Drain for Dark World)

- 2 Tragoedia

- 1 Gorz

- Mind Control

- Heavy Storm

- Monster Reborn

- Dark Hole

- 2 Pot of Duality

- 2 MST (3 only if your decktype's cards do not have enough back rows destruction, like Agents)

- Torrential Tribute

- Trap Dustshoot

Update: I check out the Dark World deck from shriek.twoday.net and it states it is 2 Doomcaliber Knight instead of 2 Spirit Reaper... oh well... Konami's official TCG site actually states that Rank 3 are using to XYZ summon and I think it is solely due to Tour Guide.

Edit: Ok, maybe first choice is Revise Dragon if there are no removed from game monsters =p...

Saturday, August 27, 2011

- There are a lot of Agent Angels and OCG's way of using Black Luster Soldier (BLS) will be to splash Tech Genus. Personally, I think for Yugioh, splashing another type into a deck is usually more inconsistent with the exception of Junk Doppel.

- 2nd highest deck used was Lightlords (w Chaos)

- Some decks are still using a high number of traps, >10

- MST is not always run at 3s and the Dark World players even sided them due to their access to Dark World Lightning.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A few OCG tournaments have started using the ban-list and they have some interesting results.

Of the 4 tournaments published in shriek.twoday.net so far, all the top decks:

- use over 24 monsters and a number of traps no higher than 5-6

- use/rely on little to no back rows

- use Lightsworn engine (hence more monsters) and the Chaos monsters

- rely on Graveyard (we need D.D. Crow back in the main deck, no?)

Sidenote: "The Warrior Returning Alive" should be read as "Black Luster Soldier Returning to eat you Alive"

Those decks are Lightsworn, Junk Doppel and Undead. Lightsworn and Junk Doppel are already established to be able to use Chaos monsters effectively and rely on the lightsworn engine for milling and as light fodder. They have the least amount of "transitioning" over to the new format. While the other decks are being considered for readjustment to 3 MST and how to survive without the defensive back rows (Blackwings especially), Lightsworn and Junk Doppel just continue with their game.

Early prediction of Tier 1 for OCG

- Lightsworns (Twilight/chaos included)

- Junk Doppel

- Decks with high monster count, low traps + little to no reliance on back rows + lightsworn engine + Chaos Monsters + summons from the graveyard (Undead and Graveyard Blackwings are candidates because they can easily fit the above conditions)

Cards that I'm calling Staple:

- 2 Tragoedia

- Mind Control

- Heavy Storm

- Monster Reborn

- Dark Hole

- Torrential Tribute

- Trap Dustshoot

(Whirlwind of the Chaos Lightlord deck actually has the same idea with the trap selection!)

New players might want to look towards building the above instead of buying 3 Agent/Dark World structure decks or wait for more Sept ban-list tournament results to decide. Of the top 2, Junk Doppel will be more consistent than lightsworns.

On the other hand, Mike Ting's Dark World built for March 2011 ban-list seems very Sept 2011 ready! I've seen quite a number of top OCG decks that uses the lightsworn engine in Dark World but I think the Dark World cards are meant to be discarded, not milled but with the Chaos monsters splash-able with them, I could be wrong.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

A little interesting pattern I noticed: 1 powerful card flanked by 2 similar but not as power counterparts and they are all restricted to add up nicely to 3 which happens to be the same Yugioh's per card limit.

Solemn Brigade (already popularly coined)

1 Solemn Judgement

2 Solemn Warning

Graveyard-Abuse Brigade

1 Monster Reborn

2 Call of the Haunted

Showhand Brigade

1 Trap Dustshoot

2 Mind Crush

I think they are all popular choices this format with perhaps a slight exception with Solemn Brigade.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

When I first started playing Yugioh and did not know about the ban-list, I actually played MST at three... come Sept 2011, it is going to be legal. I've spend the last few days reading other blogs and pojo featuring their thoughts on the ban-list and now I'm going to list my personal comments about the banlist and try not to be repetitive of what has already been said by others.

Source: Shriek.twoday.net because I read it there first.

Banned

Fishborg Blaster, Mind Master - I've not been reading much about them but they must have something to do with some looping into OTK. I personally think that these cards are missing the 'you can only do this once per duel' and future card designs should be better, Spore and Growup Bulb are examples.

Giant Trunade - This "tags out" for Heavy Storm. I think there was a time where both were playable, along with Cold Wave but perhaps with all the special summoning, games will end too quickly.

Royal Oppression - This card does not promote xyz summoning. However, Kristia is still around and usable in Agents and Lightsworns so that makes her a very important card.

Restricted

Black Luster Soldier (BLS) - I think this might be released in the next OCG Gold Series as the 1 per box card. It is not too difficult to splash into many decks so you might find yourself staring at a 3000 attack monster every other game or so.

Primal Seed - Most people think that this is overkill as it only works with Black Luster Soldier but some guys at Pojo pointed out about Phantom of Chaos being able to copy BLS...

Debris Dragon, Lonefire Blossom, Pot of Avarice - Plant engine is getting so compact, along with 1 Dandylion and people mostly running 1 Spore and 1 Growup Bulb, it can be splash in many decks too.

Heavy Storm - This card defines the format. Whether you have the card in your hand or not, opponents are going to be wary of setting many backrows.

Semi-Restricted

Summoner Monk - This was restricted because of Rescue Cat and as it is banned and as Rescue Rabbit is designed differently, this card is going up to 2. Also, this is a "xyz ambassador card" and in my opinion, a 4 star not-so-broken version of TCG's Tour Guide from the Underworld.

Tragoedia - Meet your new defense against OTK, along with Gorz. It is splashable in quite a lot of decks and Gadgets can use them too.

Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier - Necessary to stop OTK looping.

Destiny Draw - Destiny Heroes are hardly used anyway...

Swords of Revealing Light - "Stall ambassador card".

Mind Crush - Perhaps this is to counter Pot of Duality and hence no restriction for it, as I'm reading some players tweaking the draw engine for lesser Dualities in favor of their deck's draw card(e.g. Cards for BF)

Call of the Haunted - "xyz ambassador card". My personal take on this is that unlike the Synchro mechanic which spawn a new class of monsters - tuners, which usually come with their own ability to be special summoned for synchro in a turn, xyz material monsters are mainly done using existing monsters which do not magically gain self-summoning effects overnight. Hence, Call of the Haunted and Monster Reborn serve to aid in xyz summoning.

No Longer Restricted

Judgment Dragon - If you are playing Lightsworns, no reason not to run 3. This is goes in line with the rest of the non-extra deck Boss Monster of a particular theme - 3 Hyperions, 3 Graphas, 3 Machina Fortress. (except DAD)

Spirit Reaper - "Stall + xyz ambassador card". This might stall long enough for you to summon another level 3 to xyz. Zombies get a boost although I'm not sure if 3 is needed.

Overload Fusion, Megamorph - I hardly see them being used?

Mystical Space Typhoon - As if Heavy Storm isn't enough, this just ensures that backrow will be minimal. It acts as a counter to Solemn Warnings so those do not need to be restricted further. I think this direction(if true) of releasing counters to cards is good and interesting for Yugioh. Instead of simply restricting, make players think it out and calculate the risk before using those cards.

Gravity Bind - "Stall ambassador card". xyz ambassador as all XYZ monsters are Ranks and not levels, hence they are totally unaffected. MST them on sight.

Icarus Attack - If you are running BF, no reason not to run 3. Pray it survives the "cyclone" and "storms" though.

Considered-to-be-ban-worthy-by-some-but-untouched cards

Mind Control - "xyz ambassador card". Staple and splash-able in so many decks during this xyz era unless you don't run any 4 star monsters.

Ultimate Offering - "xyz gadget ambassador card". I think it is going to get some trouble "dodging" "cyclones" and "storms" but 2-card OTK combo is just too good to be passed.

Royal Tribute - Very potent against most decks as people should be running higher monster count in this minimal-backrow format. However, 2 popular decks: Dark World and Lightsworns might actually benefit from it. Maybe that's why it is untouched as there is a "flip-side" to using it, Ura! (Sidetrack here, never thought I will be getting Life lessons in Yugioh anime from Tokunosuke Omoteura, a classmate of Yuma)

Rescue Rabbit - "xyz ambassador card". Supposedly, Konami has learned from the card design of Rescue Cat and curb some of the power. We will find out by next ban-list if that really is the case.

Other Six Samurai cards - Continues to be used at their maximum.

As always, I think the ban-list builds most of the deck for you, leaving you with your deck type's core cards. The staples have gone up with 1 more MST and Call of the Haunted so deck space is going to be tighter. I think the return of heavy storm will have already opened the door to more Lightsworn decks but in case you didn't notice, Judgement Dragons are at 3 too. I would have thought that previous no-heavy-storm formats will have attracted more GBs and Infernity but it seems not. We'll see how this interesting format goes.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Extra Pack 4 containing Infernity Barriers are coming out in Sept 2011. Currently, I hardly see much Infernity decks around in tournament news. I like the Infernity deck type a lot due to it's unique concept of playing like Lightsworns.

Sept 2011 Banlist to provide some oomph back to Infernity? Infernity can XYZ too...

There is a Championship "Banlist" to even things out between TCG and OCG. One example will be that Dark World structure deck is not allowed as it is not in TCG yet. The one exception in my opinion is that TG Hyper Librarian is very notably limited to one. This will definitely be the case in the upcoming September Banlist. It might also be the reason that Junk Doppel is not as good as it can be. Shooting Quasar Dragon is also forbidden and I've seen that used as a kill card in Bahamut84's tournament report matches using Junk Doppel.

I also think Mind Control will not be hit because it promotes XYZ summon which is actually one of the points he brought up so it is kinda self-conflicting. This will be a card to look out for if it did not get hit because it is going to be a staple that people do consider to be ban-worthy.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

While everybody is reading and making ban list predictions, it is good to take note of the cards mentioned and when the actual list comes, maximize the potential of the predicted cards that went untouched! I was still wondering why some Dark World OCG decks drop Card Destruction, which is bad for Mirror and Demon Roar God but Bahamut84 pointed out the possible +5. DuelingDays' Countdown to September Banlist Post.

I really gained a lot of tips and am also now looking at Yugioh from a different aspect after reading Micheal's Death Aspect blog. I've picked up 2 cards which are categorized under "I win" and that can fit into a single deck: Limiter Removal and Ultimate Offering. Limiter Removal is mentioned to be ban worthy but personally, I think not as Yugioh may be designed to be a game where it is possible to make a comeback even from the brink of losing. Just look at the anime battles!

With either of the 2 above mentioned cards and aftering clearing opponent's field/backrow:

- You only need an Ultimate Offering and a Gadget to loop into an XYZ/gadget swarm.

- You only need a Limiter Removal and 4000 worth of attack points on the field.

I believe Ultimate Offering will be affected by the ban list, probably semi-limited. 3 "I win" cards are still 3 "I win" cards.

Side-tracking: I managed to build "almost-completed" Machina Gadgets and Blackwings after doing side quests in DS Yugioh WC 2011. Still waiting to build the Agent deck! A tip about Turbo Duels, you only need to deal 7200 damage and the Speed World 2 field spell first effect can finish the job for you. Likewise, beware of dropping to 800 lifepoints.

Friday, August 12, 2011

After Micheal Bonacini reminded me about Magic, I went to check out Magic Online and unfortunately, it is Windows only while I'm on a Mac. I could install Windows using Bootcamp but anyway, I didn't. I check out the pricing and registering cost $9.99 and will also net you cards to start playing. I wish there will be such a system for Yugioh or MTG on the iPad/iPhone soon. (especially iPad)

The iPad touchscreen is just like a natural dueling mat in Yugioh and I think it is the closest thing to the duel disk of the anime. The graphics, unlike on the DS, will at least be of PSP quality. It has wireless and bluetooth for multiplayer and the Apple App Store already supports in-app purchases and this will work for selling packs.

The iPad and iPhone being highly popular gadgets with a huge customer base will surely be attractive to both Konami and Wizards of the Coast, even though Apple will take a percentage share of the earnings. Seeing how MTG already has an online system, it may have a higher chance of coming to iPad/iPhone soon, I do hope Konami have plans to do so too!

I've been going through Yugioh blogs to see what I've been missing since I was away. 2 very interesting ones (Rauzes = G-Ray !?!?!?) came up and they both are about quitting/leaving Yugioh.

In OCG, Rauzes is quitting Yugioh to free up his time for other things. All the best Rauzes!

In TCG, Michael Bonacini is switching his focus from Yugioh to Magic The Gathering(MTG). His blog is really informative and thought-provoking(mainly TCG) so I urge everyone who have not read to check it out, reading his analysis and ideas about the game! I have started out from MTG and actually still have the cards and a couple of decks.

His comparison between the 2 card games have led me to start thinking and also take a step back to try to see the "big picture". One of his most interesting post is the one where he brought up about MTG and Konami's way of dealing with banning cards: Will Konami fix Yugioh, or let it die?

In OCG, people are saying it is a "play one monster and set 4-5 spells/traps" format. In TCG, Micheal puts it best, calling it the "dice-roll" format; winning the dice roll usually can mean a match win due to going first and setting up first.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

I've been reading that the current format is about playing a monster and setting 4-5 spells/traps. Banning heavy storm and cold wave are the main causes and it will be interesting to see if Konami returns them into the meta.

Some of the current top decks I've been seeing in tournament and nationals:

- Agent Angels

- Blackwings

- Tengu decks

- Debris Junk Doppel

- Six Samurai

- Offering Gadgets

Out of list above, I think Tengu, Debris Junk Doppel and Offering Gadgets being the highest targets to be hit by the banlist: Reborn Tengu, T.G. Librarian and Ultimate Offerings are the main culprits of each deck. I hope Blackwings do not get hit any further!

I've just completed the game. This game was harder than before with some of the mandatory people that you have to battle along the way using competitive decks. The final few rounds also involve you going against 2-3 opponents at a go but if you play conservatively, you continue the next match with a very strong field and can take the game from there.

Speed World 2 is a better mechanic where the field spell has effects too. I think some of the speed spells changed to not require removing speed counters to activate but you are required to have a certain number. Overall, turbo duels are more fun now.

Unlike the previous games, I did not end with a lightsworn deck as Light of Destruction pack is has higher requirements to unlock. (Blessing in disguise as I think Lightsworn will mill itself out of the 2-3 consecutive turbo duels at the end!) Instead, I end up with a Debris Junk "without" Doppel deck. You get most of the key cards along the way, picking them up, given from duels, or buying from packs unlocked as you complete chapters. You can get the extra copies via the password system, requirement is that you own the card or have 80% completion of the set which the card belong to. The exceptions are Dandylion and Extra Pack 1 for Lonefire Blossom.

I had to battle the boy, West, multiple times to get Dandylion. It was only during the 4-5 star mini game progression when the card appeared after which I had to carefully end the game to avoid a reset card. Extra Pack 1 can be unlocked via a side quest at around chapter 6 where you talk to Klaus to investigate a weird noise in the apartment's level 3.

The packs I went for are the first 3 Duel Terminal packs, Duelist Genesis, Crimson Crisis, Crossroads of Chaos and Duelist Revolution. I had more luck with the packs here than in real life :p. You just need 80%, so I always buy 20-30 packs and get the rest via password.

I was looking forward to building decks from the Machina, Dragunity and Agents structure decks but they were not available. I suggest buying every Structure deck when available as I didn't and already encounter a repeat deck being offered.

Duelist Revolution is a good set in my opinion. It gave 2 staple cards: Solemn Warning and Pot of Duality and 2 good cards: Effect Veiler and Scrap Dragon. I just found out that Scrap Dragon is good in Debris Junk decks in DS WC 2011: Dandylion tokens for one-for-one destruction. I wanted to buy a box of Duelist Revolution but the shop did not had any. It had 29 single packs though and thinking that was just 1 short of a box, I bought them.

Important Note: 30 single packs in a shop is not equal to a sealed box of packs!

To my disappointment, I opened all the packs to discover 0 Super Rare/Ultra Rare/Ghost Rare cards. I got all rare cards and none of them seems useful. The only scant consolation was that I got 3 Solemn Warnings but those are common cards in the box (OCG). On opening the packs did I realize about half of it has a safety warning sticker on them, which means the packs do not come from the same box.

I should have inspected all the packs before buying. I think this experience may not be new and others might have already encountered it. The shop people could have allowed the customers to feel/weight for packs or they might be the ones who sieve out the "good" packs? The shop happen to have a weighing machine at the counter too. This is a very expensive lesson for me. Buyer Beware!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

I think it's kinda true because back when Allure was Super Rare, I tend to see them getting drawn and played one after another. I'm going to mix gold cards into the deck to try!

I got my hands on Yugioh WC 2011 and have been playing for some time now. Rental deck dueling is very interesting and definitely a step up from Structure Deck duels. I tried out X-sabers, Dragunity and Six Samurai and felt their power! On a sadder note, there is no easy Lightlord deck creation now that the light of destruction pack is not unlock by story progress.